A source-first reading note for Hexagram 15, Qian (Modesty), with a reference translation, trigram frame, and one reversible observation practice.
Reference translation
Modesty: success. The superior man who holds fast to modesty brings things to a good end. The Tuan says: Modesty creates success. The way of heaven sends its light downward and shines forth; the way of earth lies low, yet its breath rises upward. It is the way of heaven to diminish the full and augment the modest; the way of earth to overthrow the full and replenish the modest; spirits and gods bring harm to the full and bless the modest; it is the way of men to hate the full and love the modest. Modesty, when honored, shines forth; when lowly, cannot be passed over. Such is the end of the superior man.
See the original-text and authority layers in the complete catalog entry.
Context from the authority layer
"Reduce what is excessive and increase what is insufficient, weigh things and distribute them evenly" — the thought emphasized in the Qian hexagram reflects the ancient people's ardent longing for social fairness. To express this, the ancients used the hexagram image of "a mountain within the earth" to illustrate how the way of Heaven, the way of Earth, the way of spirits, and the way of humans all exert their influence in favor of humility, thereby elevating the virtue of humility to a realm that nothing can surpass.
Read the structure before the slogan
The lower trigram is 艮 (山), associated in the bundled corpus with 止; the upper trigram is 坤 (地), associated with 顺. Read the lower trigram as the inner or starting field and the upper trigram as the outward field before turning the pattern into advice.
One accountable observation practice
Copy one concrete verb, condition, or image from the reference translation for Hexagram 15. Name one place where it is observable in the situation you are examining. Then choose one small step you can reverse and write the condition that would make you review it.
Common misread to avoid
Do not turn Modesty into a personality label, a guaranteed event, or a verdict about another person. The translation and trigram frame are source layers to examine, not an instruction to surrender judgment.
Source boundary
The reference translation and context are drawn from Yarrow's bundled structured Zhouyi authority layer. Yarrow keeps that layer separate from optional modern reflection. This page does not claim that Hexagram 15 was cast for your question.